Sunday, April 26, 2015

I wanted to record my musings about the feral kittens I've trapped and the adventure of taming them.

Episode 1: Working to catch the little feral kittens under our home. Hubby bought me a live trap. Set the trap with canned cat-food. Trap has tiny mesh on the sides, but cats outsmarted the designers and pulled the can to the end with larger mesh. Cats 1-me 0. Trap reset with pastrami. Hope it's too far for them to reach it! (March 24, 2015)

Episode 2 of "Trapping the Feral Kittens". Watched as two kittens walked in and out of trap enjoying the pastrami I had so carefully placed. They are clearly too tiny to trigger the door. Rethinking this scenario. (March 24, 2015)

Episode 3 of "Trapping the Feral Kittens". Moved trigger device and put lunch meat in smaller portions on triggering device. Kittens remarked they were quite enjoying tonight's smorgasbord. Back to Acme drawing board. Feeling like a pathetic coyote I once laughed at.

Episode 4: of the continuing saga, "Trapping Feral Super Sneaky Kittens". The trap is set on "hair trigger", smeared cat food under the trigger plate. Keeping eyes peeled for either the road runner or Bugs in case they are behind all this sneakiness. Fingers crossed. (March 25, 2015)

Episode 5: Welcome to the ongoing saga of "Silly City Raised White Girl Attempts Trapping Cunning Countrified Feral Kittens". As we visit the rural setting we see the girl sitting in her recliner typing goofy scenarios on Facebook. Why? Because the ever stealthy feral kittens are way too smart for her. Her next move? Wait for country raised hubby to be at home and to set the trap for her. What will hubby do? What will his strategy be? Can they rescue the little furry bundles from their eventual doom as outside bait for any stray dog that happens upon them? Stay tuned for our next episode. Hey I'm a computer geek, what did you expect? (March 26, 2015)

Episode 9: of the ongoing saga "City Girl Gets Knack of Trapping Notso Sneaky Feral Kittens". At 4:00am when hubby came in from work she had trapped number two kitten. Hubby remarked that two of the little black kitten's siblings kept circling the trap and one larger cat stood on top as if to try to figure out a way to free the little black fuzzy captive. Smurfette was very glad to have a sibling join in the party. (March 31, 2015)

Episode 11: Fuzzy Feral Felines Frustrate Female Finder. Yesterday's adventure sees the kittens allowed out of large pet taxi. Placed in a "safe" room, the guest bathroom, they are allowed to exercise and overcome their fear. The little imps find a way to open a drawer and basically block the bathroom door from opening. After much prayer and maneuvering our determined care giver slowly edges the drawer out of the cabinet and proceeds to put kittens back in the safer taxi. Whew! Today the pet taxi is put in front of drawers therefore preventing a repeat of yesterday's drama.
(April 2, 2015)

Episode 19: Guess Who We Just Caught? Yes we've added another member of the feral kitten clan to our ranks. I'm thinking it's a boy and if it is his name is Wiley. His last uncaught sibling was on top of the live trap laying flat with her paw reaching into him. He was licking her as if to comfort her. She was touching him to comfort him.

Caught kitten number four. Now comes domestication phase 2. Dottie and Smurfy are happy in the house. Next comes Wiley and sibling. Not sure what sex either are! Fun, fun, fun. (April 11, 2015)

Episode 20: City Girl 4 - Feral Kittens 0. Well we have no Wileys only girls. Finally handled the two new kittens and both are girls. They are way more feral than their two sisters. What a difference a couple weeks makes. After handling them with gloves they finally decided to eat and drink. I guess they decided I wasn't going to eat them. (April 12, 2015)

Episode 22: The Cherry Menagerie. This morning Mousey started vocalizing at around 5:00am. She wanted out. She cried and then went quiet intermittently. At 7:00am I took her from the pet taxi and handled her for ten minutes. No purring, but no squirming either. Violet wants nothing to do with being held. At present they have been in the bathroom let loose for nearly 30 minutes. They will be back in their taxi and I will let Smurfette and Dottie out. Dottie played keep away very late last night. Only after opening the pet taxi and holding her sister did she enter the taxi to eat. Snap she was shut in with her sister and I got to go to bed. (April 14, 2015)

Episode 24: Mousey Joins The General Populous. Mousey reminds me of a nervous puma. She continues to come up to me for reassurance that all is well. She was ready to be out of her smaller pet taxi and I figured that Violet might be more conducive to affection if she was left alone for a while. It's interesting learning their individual personalities.

Today was a very successful day as far as cat wrangling goes. Mousey played almost all day outside with Smurfette and Dottie. I finally got to really handle Violet and didn't get bit or scratched. Smurfette loves Frek and Luba and they all three play famously. Today after having a "goodie" session with Frek and Smurfette the two were lounging on the living room floor. Frek's tail was just a twitching. Smurfette was mesmerized and reached over and slapped Frek on the hiney. Frek just glared at her and offered a hiss. Two minutes later Frek stood up, walked over to Smurfette and slapped her as if to say, "Don't ever do that again"! So hilarious. What a circus I have here.
(April 16, 2015)

Episode 25: The Perils of Pawline. Today I got up early, cleaned litter boxes, washed food and water dishes, did my household chores, fed the critters and released three of the four kittens before I headed uptown to run errands. I was gone a little over two hours and when I got home the house was still standing! I had thrown all the kitten toys on the living room floor and they were strewn everywhere when I got home. Nothing else appeared to be out of place. Yay!! (April 17, 2015)

The weekend edition of Four Feral Felines Find Fun and Fulfillment. All the girls now have pretty collars so mom can ID them quickly, plus bells mean they can be heard. Violet is watching the fun from the big pet taxi. She is more and more curious about getting out to play. Smurfette has claimed the alpha position and has claimed my lap. Our daily goodie "free for all" is a favorite activity. Frek even joins in for this one. So far I've left twice for at least two hours and returned to find the house in one piece. My goal this week is to see Violet come out and joined the fun. Vetting is next. One step at a time. Sunday

Episode 26: Furrier and Furrier. Today I am attempting to finish hubby's birthday present. Surprisingly enough Miss Mousey decided she needed to watch me. She got up on the kitchen table (a real no no) and play with the pieces of my project. I hated to do it, but "squirt" was my response and down she went. If she is to find a forever home, she needs to have table manners. Smurfette was bored with the whole affair and slept quietly on the chair next to me. Who knows where Dottie was. She finally came out to play "goodie free for all". I needed a break so I got Violet out of her big pet taxi and just held and petted her. She shivered for a few seconds but settled down after she realized I wasn't going to eat her. She is THE most feral kitten I've ever seen. I didn't talk this time, just soft touches. Frek is not happy about the visitors. Her only concession is that she loves this new goodie game and participates in it with great relish. (Like she needs even half a goodie!) (April 20, 2015)

Episode 27: Felines, Fur and Fun Oh My! Today started slow for me. Hubster didn't sleep well so yours truly did NOT want to get up. I finally convinced my body it HAD to get up and get moving. I was met with a gray streak as I entered the living room. Miss Smurfette was ALREADY up and out of her pet taxi. Bad daddy, bad daddy! After all the cat boxes were cleaned, water dishes cleaned and filled, food dishes filled the real fun began. We now have a communal food dish. Luba (chihuahua), kittens AND Frek (grown cat) are all eating from said bowl. Oh yes, Frek's bowl is now fair game for kittens that have braved the scary laundry room and scaled the notso protective baby gate. Such is life.

I got to hold Miss Violet for a few moments before I sensed her "I'm nervous and uncomfortable beyond measure" squirm. Miss Mousey has discovered curtain climbing 101. Before she masters this skill and goes for sofa shredding 101 I will be introducing her to squirt bottle 2.0! Sorry sweetie, but you need to have house manners in your new home. Stay tuned for another breath taking adventure with the menagerie at the Cherry abode.

Presently all furry creatures, including four canine cuddlers are resting before their second recess. Pinterest take me away! (April 21, 2015)

Episode 28: "Bad Daddy, Bad Daddy Part Deux"! Mr. Compassion aka hubby decided Miss Wild Thang aka Violet needed mashed potatoes and gravy. NOT!!! He took his plate and put it in the big pet taxi with her. That being said, he failed to latch the pet taxi. I'm thinking his whole agenda was to let her out. He kept saying, "I feel sorry for her". Now she is out and other than one brief flash of fluffed and bristled gray, I haven't seen her. I now have an almost fully feral feline footloose in the house.

On a happier note, I made said hubster catch Dottie and I crated her and the others. I was able to handle them this morning. Mousey is much more calm and receptive to handling. Dottie purred, but still offered some resistance and Smurfy is her old "play with me until the cows come home" self. They are all playing like rowdy Cowboys this morning. Wrestle Mania, eat your fur-less hearts out! (April 22, 2015)

Episode 29: Too Much Furry Fun. I'm running on slow this morning. I need to get motivated. If only I could tap into the seemingly endless supply of energy the kittens have, I could fly to the moon unaided by mechanical devices.

Violet finally came out of hiding last night, but it was a brief lapse of judgment as fear gripped her and she immediately headed back to her hiding place. She and Mousey are presently playing chase and wrestle mania down the hall. Smurfette and Dottie and wrestling under my keyboard and there is a great deal of growling associated with the game.

Frek is lounging in front of me quite bored with all the kindergarten activity going on.

I need to clean litter boxes and get dressed, but I want to sit and veg. I doubt that will happen as I have ironing and errands to run. At least the dishes are done, the bed is made, and the house is straightened. Considering the fact that two kittens in varying stages of feral were loose all night, and the fact the house is still standing I'm doing good!

Stay tuned for the rollicking good fun here at the Cherry home for feral and formerly feral kittens. Yes, Frek used to be feral too. (April 23, 2015)

Episode 30: Surprise! Miss Violet AND Miss Dottie are both safely sequestered in the big pet taxi. There is no explaining to them that IF they can't be socialized, and that IF they continue to run and hide when humans are present they will die. SO, that being said Smurfette and Mousey are out playing like kittens because they are already ok with the human touch. Failure is not an option so we are back on course with Socialization and Domestication 101.

The biggest hurdle now is convincing hubby that they are better off in the pet taxi, than out free doing whatever they want, whenever they want. True freedom has boundaries. If one cannot live in society with rules, one must be contained until such time as one IS willing to "play by the rules". Sorry lover, that's just how it has to be.

Now where is that padlock so Mr. Freedom doesn't free a couple Willy's while I'm not looking? (April 24, 2015)

Episode 31: Back on Track. Dottie and Violet are now in the bigger pet taxi. I held each girl and brushed them for quite a while. I am sitting listening to them growl at each other as I type. Smurfette and Mousey are in the other taxi where they spent the night. I'm about to let them out so cleaning and feeding can commence. Of course that means frolicking and festivities begin as well.

Dottie is not happy with the present situation. Perhaps she will cooperate with the cuddle sessions and I can let her out again. She simply can't continue to avoid human contact and make a good house cat.

Episode 32: AWOL Kitten Recaptured! Miss Violet made her escape last night, but the good news is that she was MUCH easier to recapture than ever before. I had no need of welders gloves, a goalie's mask and biker's leathers to grab her! No, I simply cornered her in the bathroom and talked to her as I picked her up. After last night's escape I was ALMOST ready to take her to the pound. Today's recapture showed me I AM making progress with her, even if it is PAINFULLY slow.

On the other hand the other three girls are playing wrestle mania combined with death race 2015. Lots of zooming, grabbing and growling on. Little Miss Smurfy Jones instigates wrestle sessions with her sisters, but when they over power her and begin to win, she cries, "calf rope"! That's "uncle" for all of you NOT raised in the south.

Miss Dottie "Rambo" has proved to be more than a match for Smurfy. She gets fed up with Smurfette and goes postal on her hiney. The last time she did so and Smurfette started screaming both Luba and Frek decided to play Aunties and thumped them both. It can get pretty loud in here when the games begin. Interestingly enough, hubby has been able to sleep through ALL the noise.

Not sure what the day holds, but I'm quite confident these critters will add some interest to the mix.

I've decided to copy my posts recording this adventure, but was surprised to find many "episodes" missing from my timeline. Not sure what makes FB record or erase, but interested to discover the truth.